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| Over the years I would say 4-7% opens and culls for gummers, lame, other health reasons. I try to keep cow herd young or should say running age. Broken mouths and gummers are tagged in fall at preg checking time. They go home to alfalfa stubble feilds. Then when total cow count is found in fall, we determine if keeping the best for one more year and baby them.
I would rather run a gummer than broken mouth on desert in winter. If you get snowed out or cows have tough it out for 30 days they can go downhill on you fast. Also the thing I hate about keeping old cows through our winters, is you supplement them and calve them out. You think you have it wooped, then spring green up end of May and some of those cows will tip over.
Just been our policy bad broken and gummers go to town. 10-12 year olds would be the avg. age of those cows. However have had 16 year old cows keep all teeth. My son bought a ranch over 9 years ago. We took the cows, however sorted hard on them. Took the best of the running age cows, culled over 30% of the man's herd because of gummers, old. It was a shock to me he had that many gummers, broken. They were bred but old. Those cows he purchased are finally leaving the herd. Down to a hand full of them. It was the only thing that saved us from being upside down on that deal and making the deal work. He got record price for cows, but he took all old off and he packed note. It was good for both parties.
He leased those short term cows out, where they got better feed, care and they made those work.
Edited by Russ In Idaho 5/12/2025 05:56
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Rotational grazing, thin cows rocks and brush
